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Beef up your diet to stay strong
Make sure you’re eating enough protein to keep your muscles in trim
Age makes no difference when it comes to how well our bodies process protein and turn it into muscle, say scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch. But older people eat less protein than they should and that's why many suffer from debilitating muscle loss. An easy way to tackle this problem, say the researchers, is simply to eat a diet containing a moderate amount of protein-rich food such as beef, fish, pork, chicken, dairy or nuts.
The scientists recruited 10 volunteers aged between 33-49 and 10 older volunteers aged between 65-75. They gave them each a serving of lean beef (113g/4oz) and took blood and muscle tissue samples before the meal and five hours afterwards. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that that both groups increased muscle synthesis by 51 per cent after the meal.
Lead author of the study Douglas Paddon-Jones, associate professor at the UTMB, said "What we learned was really encouraging, because it suggests that elderly people actually can benefit from eating a moderate serving of protein-rich foods. That’s something they aren’t doing enough now – in fact, between 16 and 27 per cent of older adults are eating less than the recommended daily allowance of protein."
This could be for various reasons, including the fact that high protein foods may be harder to chew, and older people may start to lose their appetite. Another important contributor to muscle loss in the elderly is a lack of exercise and injury.
Elderly people who fall and become injured often find it difficult to recover and regain their independence because they quickly lose muscle mass and strength and become physically disabled. "Sufficient muscle is fundamental for the activities of daily living, movement and independence - it's definitely a quality-of-life issue," he added.
Dieticians recommend that each day we should eat about 0.75 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For example, someone weighing nine stone (57kg) should consume a minimum of 43g of protein per day.
Protein-rich foods include
- Eggs (1 medium size) - 6g of protein
- Cheese (cheddar 100g/3.5oz) - 25g of protein
- Roast chicken (100g/3.5oz) - 25g of protein
- Ham (100g/3.5oz) - 18g of protein
- Baked beans (225g/8oz) - 11.5g of protein
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Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
